Royally Screwed
by CinnamonStyx
Summary: The Royal Flush Gang has been sent to Belle Reve and they are not enjoying their time there, Follow Ten, King, Queen, and Jack as they figure out why exactly they've been sent here and try to adjust to prison life.


**A/N:** _This is the second story featuring the Royal Flush Gang I've written. I got the idea for this one after reading a Teen Titans story featuring them from the early '90s. I liked their dynamic there so I came up with this story. Just a note, this is meant to be the second version of the Royal Flush Gang, the one where Ace is a robot. As it turns out, there have been a lot of Royal Flush Gangs. But the second version is the one I'm going with._

* * *

Somewhere behind the walls of the infamous Belle Reve Penitentiary was a woman named Wanda Wayland. But that was a name only close friends called her. And she had no close friends; only colleagues and enemies. These people called Wanda something different, to them she was the Ten of Spades.

Up until several days ago, she had been part of the Royal Flush Gang along with three other like-minded criminals and an android they kept around. They'd had a very successful career hiring their services out to other supervillains or just committing robberies whenever they needed money.

But at the current juncture, Wanda and her compatriots had been captured by Superman during an attempt to steal some technology from Lexcorp to upgrade their Ace Android. They had expected to be sent to Stryker's Island following their arrest. But instead, much to their confusion, the Royal Flush Gang was sent down south to Belle Reve.

Ten of Spades had been up since approximately four-thirty in the morning. She couldn't sleep, her mind was abuzz with questions and ideas. Why were they here and how were they going to get out?

One hour later, Ten's cellmate woke up. Said cellmate was one Leslie Willis. Former radio host and current supervillain under the name Livewire. When Livewire was awake, she made her presence known.

"Hey Tennie… You up yet?"

"I am." Ten stared at the mattress above her. The springs were making quite a bit of noise, indicating some movement from Livewire.

"Still looks pretty early outside. How long do you think we have to wait 'til they let us out?"

"You tell me. You've been here longer than I have."

Ten flinched when Livewire hopped down from the top bunk. She stood over Ten's bed like a parent comforting a child. Of course, it was far less comforting when the parent was an unstable woman made of pure electricity.

"You're one of the lucky ones, Tennie. You don't have to wear these goddamn collars." Livewire smirked and pointed at the collar around her neck meant to repress her powers.

"I don't even know why they put me here." Ten groaned and sat up in bed. She kept eye contact with Livewire, not trusting her one little bit. "I thought this place was to keep supervillains contained. Me and my friends, we're mercenaries who like card games."

"I've got a few theories on why you're here. But I'll keep 'em to myself."

"Why's that?"

"Well, let's just say you wouldn't like it if I told you."

"How ominous…"

"That's just how I roll, Tennie."

"Stop calling me that. I don't think I like it very much."

Ten's top priority as soon she was released from her cell for the day was to make contact with the rest of the Gang. She'd been avoiding them to keep down suspicion on her. Of course, she had seen Queen and from the outside she seemed to be doing okay. She had no idea about how Jack and King were doing in the men's wing of the prison but assumed they couldn't be much worse off than she was.

The first place Ten searched was the cells. She had already been asking around about where Queen was kept and knew the exact location of her cell. Ten swiftly made her way across the cellblock until she found where she'd been told Queen was.

Sure enough, Queen was lying on the top bunk in the cell reading a book. It looked like Queen either didn't notice Ten or was ignoring her. Regardless, Ten decided to make her presence known.

"Hey Queen, how's prison life treating you?"

"Terrible…" Queen set down her book and looked over to Ten. "It's about time you showed up."

"Catch me up, how've the first few days been?" Ten watched as Ten climbed down from the top bunk.

"Awful… I feel naked without my gear. Never realized how much I wore it." Queen grumbled.

"Are you having trouble with your…" Ten mimed drinking out of an invisible wine bottle. "_Problem_."

"Jesus Ten, you can just say I'm an alcoholic. And yes, I'm having trouble." Queen crossed her arms and stared down Ten. "More than trouble. It's painful, even. I hear there are ways to get drinks and smokes… If I know the right people… I don't know who those are yet."

"You look like a mess. Even more than usual." Ten smirked. "So, who's your cellmate?"

"Killer Frost." Queen groaned. "You heard of her?"

"Yeah, I think so." Ten nodded. "How is she?"

"Terrifying. She's told that she, and I quote, can and will stab me in the throat first chance she gets."

"I'm stuck with some electric girl called Livewire. She doesn't sound as bad as yours, but I don't trust her."

"Well, good for you." Queen scowled at Ten. "I still need to find some whisky and cigarettes before I go crazy."

"You need to get your act together." Ten smirked.

"I know…" Queen put her hands on her hips. "If I don't get back on my feet soon I've got a feeling I'm gonna end up as Frost's prison bitch."

"Oh, stop it. You watch too many movies, Queen." Ten rolled her eyes. "You'll be fine. I'm gonna go try and talk to Jack and King. You wanna come with me?"

"No thanks, I've had enough of those idiots to last a lifetime."

"Well, I could say the same about you. And yet, here I am."

With a smug smile on her face, Ten turned back around and left Queen in her cell. The sound of creaking metal behind her indicated that she had climbed back up into her bed.

Ten walked through the corridors of Belle Reve with a purpose in her step. It took her about five minutes to find her way out of the women's wing of the prison and into the coed exercise yard. Almost instantly she saw King and Jack off in a corner. They were talking to each other, ignoring the other inmates.

When Ten made her move to approach them they took notice of her immediately. King seemed more interested in her and waved while Jack just dejected looked at the ground.

"Hey there boys, did you miss me?" Ten smiled. As much as the two men in front of her annoyed her, they had been through too much together for Ten to truly hate them.

"Where the hell have you been…" Jack kept his eyes focused on the ground. "Could've written us a letter."

"Ignore Jack, the food here upsets his stomach." King glanced over at Jack. "What brings you here?"

"I figured I had to stop by at some point." Ten looked back and forth between Jack and King. "I already checked up on Queen."

"Oh yeah? How's she doing?" Jack looked up from the ground.

"Not well. It looks like she doesn't want to leave her cell. And she's complaining about not getting enough cigarettes or drinks." Ten relayed the information she had on Queen.

"Really now? I-" King quickly looked around. "I managed to get a pack of cigarettes. I could give a few to Queen."

"What's the cost?" Ten raised an eyebrow. "I'm not shanking anyone on your behalf."

"Ten, we're partners. No charge." King gazed around for guards again before slipping a few cigarettes out from his sleeve and giving them to Ten.

"Thanks." Ten quickly hid the cigarettes in her shirt.

"You should probably go." Jack whispered. "People might get suspicious about us talking."

"Of course." Ten nodded and turned around. She started to walk away from her associates but her attention was turned to something else, the prison's PA system.

"_Attention! Wanda Wayland, Mona Taylor, Joseph Carny, and Jack Conway, this is Amanda Waller. You're needed in my office."_ a woman's voice boomed over the speakers. _"I'm sending guards to your locations. For their convenience, please don't move."_

"Dammit! What did we do?" Jack nervously started looking around.

"Calm down, Jack. It will be fine." King put a hand on his shoulder.

Ten said nothing and just silently looked back at Jack and King. Whatever they were being called in for, she didn't like it.

* * *

Nearly half an hour later, the four human members of the Royal Flush Gang were seated at a desk in front of Amanda Waller. Her eyes were on a clipboard in front of her, it's contents unknown to the Gang.

Even though she knew she was just being paranoid, Ten had the suspicion that they had been given shorter chairs to make Waller look more imposing.

"So… The Royal Flush Gang, is it?" Waller eyed the four of them.

"You called for us by name." Queen crossed her arms. "Don't pretend not to know us."

Waller silently made a note on her clipboard before she addressed Queen. "You shouldn't take that tone with me, I run this place. I could make your life a living Hell."

"Do what she says, Queen." Ten whispered. "For now…"

"You for have functioned as a group for several years now, is that correct?" Waller glanced up from her clipboard.

"Yes ma'am." King nodded.

"Your android, the one you call Ace. Is he a reliable piece of technology?" Waller tapped her pen against the table. "We have him locked up in storage, just in case."

"I wouldn't call Ace reliable." Jack grumbled. "He's been destroyed at least a dozen times by now. But we rebuild him every single time."

"I see…" Waller made another note. "Tell me, have any of you heard of something called Task Force X?"

"Sounds a little familiar…" Ten tried to hide her nervousness. She did not like the direction Waller was taking the conversation. Even if she didn't know what 'Task Force X' was, she didn't like the sound of it.

"Perhaps you've heard of it by it's more… _Colloquial_, name. _The Suicide Squad._" Waller couldn't help but grin at revealing this to them.

"Crap…" Ten bit her lip in anger.

"Suicide Squad… Suici- I've still never heard of that." Jack tapped his foot on the ground. He had not yet made the connection the others have made.

"I don't know what it is, but it's bad." King glanced over at Jack. "I heard one of those clown women, Jewelee or Harley Quinn, I forget… They were talking about it at a bar I went to before we were caught… They said they were on this _Squad_. And that the Squad sent you to other countries and blew your brains out if you made one wrong move."

"Yes, we do those things." Waller calmly nodded. "The Suicide Squad is a government-funded operation. We send you people out on missions that are too… _Morally gray,_ for people like the Justice League to handle. You're expendable, and if you don't do what we say we will kill you."

"And you want us to join this, don't you?" Queen sighed, holding her head in her hands.

"You don't have a choice." Waller looked over the faces of the Royal Flush Gang. Queen's defeat, Ten's anger, Jack's confusion, King's stoic determination. "Starting tomorrow, you're part of Task Force X. If you have any problems with that, too bad. We think you'll be a good addition to the team. Since you're accustomed to working as a unit, I think you'll be a good addition. Any questions?"

The Royal Flush Gang said nothing. They were too shocked about the new life plan that Waller laid out for them to react.

"No? Good. You'll have the bombs implanted tomorrow. You're free to go."

And with that, a small group of guards escorted the four of them out of Waller's office and down the hall. Nobody said a word at first. But as they passed cell after cell each of them felt a burning desire to talk about what had happened.

"So I'm just gonna come out and say it." Ten spoke up. "What the fuck are we supposed to do?"

"Nothing… We're doomed." Queen looked at her shoes.

"That… That seems to be the answer." Jack dejectedly nodded.

"We'll find a way out, mark my words." King growled. "For now, we're their puppets. But if we play along for long enough, we'll be the ones pulling the strings."

Ten reflected on King's words the entire way back to her cell, even after the guards split off the four of them. When she was returned to the cell, Livewire was in there on the top bunk. The door was shut behind Ten which seemed to get Livewire's attention.

"Lights out, Wayland." the guard who had been escorting her had a mocking tone in his voice. "You have fun tonight. 'Cause you won't be having any fun tomorrow."

Livewire climbed down from the top bunk as the guard walked away from her. She had a look on her face similar to the one Waller had given her just earlier. It was almost like she was holding back laughter.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"I knew it. Waller put you on the Suicide Squad, didn't she?"

"Yep…" Ten sighed and went over to her bed, lying down.

"You won't last a week." Livewire followed her over to the bed. "She tried to put me on the Squad, but I fried the bomb they tried to put in me. Even with this collar on I still got some powers. They're incredibly limited, but they're there. So, keep that in mind if you ever get on my bad side."

"Is that a threat." Ten glared up at Livewire.

"Probably." Livewire shrugged and climbed up the ladder to her bed. "Good luck with the Squad tomorrow, Tennie. You're gonna need as much as you can get."

Ten didn't say anything. All she did was sigh with indignation and cross her arms. She knew that the Royal Flush Gang wasn't exactly A-list talent, she knew that her cohorts were incompetent at the best of times, and she knew that she was way in over her heads. But Ten also knew that she was determined. And that determination would mean the Royal Flush Gang would ride again.

**The End**


End file.
